SvalbardSvalbard is an archipelago belonging to Norway located East of
Greenland from 74 to 81 degrees North. The
two largest islands
are Spitsbergen, and Nordaustlandet. Historically, Svalbard was
discovered by Vikings, but did not effectively belong to any country
until granted to Norway in 1920. Hunting, trapping, and whaling were
once widespread in the archipelago. Over the last 40 years, geological
research has been frequent, much of that tied to the abundance of coal.
Svalbard does have a modest population, there being a number of mining settlements on Spitsbergen, of which Longyearbyen is the largest. (Aga 1986)